MADELEINE McCann’s parents today posted a heartfelt message to their missing daughter on her 21st birthday.
Kate and Gerry wrote: “Happy 21st birthday Madeleine. Still missing. Still lost. Still searching.”
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The message was shared on the official Find Maddie campaign page on Facebook.
It was accompanied by one of the last photos taken of the boy at three years old.
Madeleine was photographed looking radiant in a white sun hat and pink dress, with the word “Hope” on it.
The site is viewed by thousands of supporters around the world.
Earlier this month, Kate and Gerry shared a heartbreaking update on the 17th anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance.
The couple said their daughter’s “absence still hurts” in a touching social media post.
It said: “It’s been 17 years since Madeleine was taken from us.”
“It’s hard to say that number without shaking your head in disbelief.
“Although we are lucky in many ways and can live a relatively normal and pleasant life now, ‘living in limbo’ is still very upsetting.
“Your support continues to encourage us and strengthen our strength to continue. We know that the love and hope for Madeleine and the desire to find her, even after so many years, remain, and we are truly grateful for that.
“Thank you again for remembering Madeleine and all the missing children.”
The main suspect in the case is Christian Brueckner, a 47-year-old German citizen and convicted sex offender.
He is currently serving a prison sentence for raping a woman in Praia da Luz, in 2005, and is suspected of further attacks in the area between 2000 and 2017.
Brueckner is currently appearing in a German court accused of a series of rapes and indecent exposure allegations uncovered during the investigation into Maddie.
He denies the charges against him and the trial continues.
When did Madeleine McCann disappear?
The little girl disappeared on May 3, 2007, when the family was on vacation in Praia da Luz, in the Algarve, Portugal.
Parents Gerry and Kate left their three children – including twins Sean and Amelie – sleeping in their apartment while they ate at a tapas bar – 120 meters away.
When Kate returned to check on the children at around 10pm that night, she discovered that Madeleine was not in her bed and was missing.
In September of that year, Gerry and Kate, both doctors, were sensationally named as “defendants” by Portuguese police.
The following summer, the McCanns were cleared by investigators in Portugal who declared they had exhausted all avenues in the case.
In March 2024, it was confirmed that British detectives searching for Maddie would receive an additional £100,000 in funding to help with the investigation – on top of the £13 million already provided by the government since 2011.
What theories are there about Madeleine’s disappearance?
- In June 2020, it was revealed that a German prisoner was the main suspect in the case, with evidence showing that he was in the Praia da Luz area and surrounding areas at the time.
- Investigative journalist and former police officer Mark Williams-Thomas believes Madeleine left the apartment in search of her parents.
- Former police chief Gonçalo Amaral claimed MI5 helped cover up Madeleine McCann’s body after her parents accidentally killed her.
- Veteran investigative journalist Danny Collins believes the child could not have been snatched from the room. He is convinced that she left her apartment in Praia da Luz looking for her parents before being kidnapped and possibly sold to gypsies.
- Former Scotland Yard detective Colin Sutton says the “most likely and credible scenario” for Madeleine’s disappearance is a targeted abduction by child traffickers – possibly to replace the dead child of some grieving parents.
- In the 2019 Netflix documentary, The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann, researchers point out that the coastal resort of Praia da Luz would make it easier for traffickers to escape on a boat and travel to North Africa. The resort is also just a 90-minute drive from the Spanish border.
- A local resident in the Netflix film highlighted that the Algarve has many wells, some of which are 30 meters deep. They suggested that Madeleine could have left the apartment and fallen to her death.
- Parents Gerry and Kate have been forced to confront rumors about their daughter’s disappearance, with the couple vowing to fight “tooth and nail” if they are ever prosecuted for leaving their children alone.
- In July 2017, Madeleine’s parents failed in their attempt to silence former Portuguese police officer Gonçalo Amaral over his allegations that they faked their daughter’s abduction to cover up her death.
- Another theory is that Madeleine was kidnapped as part of a botched robbery, in which an intruder panicked and abducted her after she woke up. Although Scotland Yard investigated this theory, it was always rejected by the police in Portugal, as nothing else was taken from the apartment.
- US think tank The Rutherford Institute said Madeleine could have been taken by a sex trafficking gang after studying how children are kidnapped and abused in the sex industry. The institute’s John Whitehead also believes these gangs could be helped by “predator police” – although there is no evidence to suggest Portuguese police were involved in assisting Madeleine’s abduction.
- In 2019, Portuguese police reportedly thought that Madeleine was kidnapped by a man wearing a surgical mask and who was known to the police, following a tip from Scotland Yard.
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